CiS RdrofiTpcct of Fr 



of printed bo(A8 and orieiUnl iii.inascripts 

 may bol(fly claim precedence of any 

 other private collection in the world. 

 M. Langlos was theref )re, perhaps, the 

 on!y person who would with propriety 

 have undertaken the present work ; for 

 lie possessed all the inateiials accessible 

 to others, with many eniirely peculiar to 

 Iiimself. 



We observe that this js the second 

 ▼olutr.e of the work : it may appear sin- 

 gular that the second should appear before 

 the first; it is, however, a case not with- 

 out exatiiple, as we recollect the late Dr. 

 Ilorsley published his Mathematics in a 

 similar manner, and he had not the same 

 reasons as the Chevalier Langlbs. The 

 Monuments of Hindostan are published 

 in parts; the text of which is composed 

 of two parts, the arclijeological and pic- 

 turiesqae, and the {leographical and his- 

 torieal, paged separately. Of the former 

 sections a volume is now completed, and 

 pobiTshed accordingly. In tlia preface to 

 It, M. L. notices his reasons for thus pub- 

 lishing the second before the first. 



The work opens with a descrijjtion of 

 the palace of Madlioureh (Madura) from 

 English, French, and Danish authorities. 

 ^I."^Lang!^S h:i3 long emitted an idea, 

 wWich sidl divides the literary world, ajid 

 }ias been strongly contested by M. Testa 

 aad M, Viscoiiti. !\I. L. in his vast 

 researches, has been led to doubt of the 

 toafted antiquity of ihe Hindoos. The 

 Mudy of the oriental languages first led 

 him to discover the al^nity between the 

 Ethiopians and the Hindoos; and the 

 iiiiniite examination of the monuments 

 oi Hindnnstan has confirmed him in the 

 idea. Here we have a monument partly 

 Saracen. There is a zodiac ;n the ced- 

 ing of the palace; and it is found that the 

 znriiiK:, sculptured on the ceiling of the 

 Temple of Erne in F^ypt, appears to be 

 nearly contemporary with that of JNJad- 

 Iioureh. The veimd equinox in both is 

 in Gemini, and tiie summer solstice in 

 Virgo. The zodiac in the city of Den- 

 derah has the summer solstice in Leo, 

 ivhich gives to the two former an anti- 

 ()uity of (50OO, and to iJie latter 2000 

 jears. 



" The custom which appears to have 

 been common to the ancient Indiiinsand 

 i;<iyptians, of ))lticing zodiacs in the ceil- 

 iiiKS of their temples, supports the con- 

 formity which our astronomers have dis- 

 covered between the position of the^signs 

 of the ztidiac of Esno and that of l''erdi/' 

 fetCuh." 



In describing the grand pagoda of 



Hvjo Us 03 --i' 



encJi Literature. 



Tanjaour, the learned autlior again refers 

 10 the affinity between the monunieiits of 

 India and Egypt, 

 •' The situation of this apartment (where 

 the religious ceremonies were performed) 

 in the center of the edifice, and the use 

 to which it is consecrated by the Brah- 

 mins, are circumstances on which I have 

 alreody insisted in another work, to jus- 

 tify the conformity which appears to m* 

 to exist between the pagodas of the Hin- 

 doos and the pyramids of the Egyptians. 

 These latter, I hesitate not to repeat, 

 were iieliacal (astronomical or solar) mo- 

 numents, and not tombs, notwithstand- 

 ing tlie coffins which the Arabs pretend 

 to have found in them. What in facs 

 would be the error of our descendants, 

 if they judged of the destination of our 

 churches from the sepulchres and bones 

 they might discover in digging in thesa 

 sacred edifices ? We may add, that the 

 stone trough, placed in the principal 

 chamber of the grand pyramid, and 

 wliich travellers have regarded as a sar- 

 cophagus, is placed Iwrizonlally, while, 

 if we may judge from the observations 

 of Greek and Latin authors, and ths 

 discoveries of our modern travellers, 

 prejudices, and perhaps even religious 

 precepts, seem to have made it a law with 

 the Egyptians to place all their dead per- 

 pendicularly." 



It is by such learned disquisitions, 

 where the knowledge of different sub- 

 jects reflect reciprocal light on eacli 

 other, that the work of the Ciievalier 

 Langlbs distinguishes itsell from the pro- 

 ductions of those whose ideas are con- 

 fined to the suliject befi)re them, and 

 whose learning does not permit them to 

 make comparisons between the subject 

 of their study and similar monuments iii 

 difl^erent parts of the world; whereas, 

 the author who can do this, like I\I. Laii- 

 g!cs, continually throws new light on ob- 

 scure points of hittory : and it isby such 

 researches alone that we may ever hop* 

 t(; attain correct ideas on the supposed 

 emigration of mankind, or the history of 

 the origin of a people. Too high praise, 

 therefore, cannot be given to learnfd 

 men, who, filling important public func- 

 tions, still find time for those important 

 studies which demand sedulous attention 

 and piofound meditation, directed by 

 genius and that critical .icumen which 

 kno\vs how to purge the Kold from ths 

 dross, and present it not only pure but in 

 abundance to the republic of letters^ 

 and such, in a word, is M. Langlbs, as lie 

 haj exeojplified it in the work before us, 

 arcbit£cti;bf, 



